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Cell Phone Providers?

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exhawg

exhawg

Mirror Guy
I currently have Sprint and have never had a problem. My 3 phone family plan is up so I checked to see what they have to offer in the way of new phones and plans. Unfortunately they are only willing to give me $150 per phone to upgrade, while they are willing to give new customers much more. I sent them an email earlier today letting them know that I would like the same discounts that new customers receive since I basically am a new customer for whatever company is willing to give me the best deal. They offered an extra $75 (total) for me to get new phones so I just sent them back a slightly nastier email. If not for my family members that are on my plan and other relatives that are with Sprint I would just cancel my plan altogether since I already have a Verizon Blackberry for work. Sprint is also telling me that I have to go to a Sprint Store to get new phones rather than being able to order online like new customers can. I’m not really willing to travel 30 minutes to get to the nearest Sprint Store to get a new phone. I’ll be interested to see if they counter offer.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
I mainly just wanted to vent about Sprint being bitches to me, but I also wanted to check to see what luck anyone has had with other providers. I’ll probably end up going back with Sprint, but I just don’t understand why they would rather get new customers than keep people who have been with them for several years.<o:p></o:p>
 
Verizon (in my experience) has great service. I rarely had dropped calls and I would almost always have service even when people around me had Sprint/Nextel, or Cingular that didn't get service in certain spots. Verizon only gives $100 towards a new phone after 1 or 2 years. Kind of pricey but have a lot of the same plan features as everyone else (mobile to mobile, nights and weekends, etc.)

Sprint has decent service IMO. The phones I have had (work phones) are bulkier than some of the alternatives I have found. I haven't had to pay for their service plans.

I currently have a Cingular RAZR phone which I absolutely love. The phone itself is great because of the features (bluetooth, voice activated dialing, etc.). The plan prices are about average although they have the family share plan for under $10. The service is not nearly as good as Sprint and Verizon though (at least in my area). I loose service in 2 spots on my way to and from work which I never did with Verizon and only did in one spot with my Sprint.

My mother recently got 3 free flip-phones from Cingular with the family share plan. The phones are not bad.
 
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Couple points of interest... and most likely things you already know...

reception is obviously a function of towers... might want to see which provider has the best tower coverage in the areas you most frequently travel... many of the providers have coverage maps on their websites...

In most parts of the country Verizon has the most towers... not sure what the situation is in NE Ohio...

Second.. is the in-service free calling... any way to determine what service most of the folks you talk with have? that way, none of those calls and minutes charge against your acct... that could be big

I get a kick out of Cingulars claim that they have the least number of dropped calls than any other service... not the lowest %.. but the least number of dropped calls... if you have the smallest firm and the least number of customers, chances are pretty good you have the least number of dropped calls... haaa
 
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exhawg said:
I currently have Sprint and have never had a problem. My 3 phone family plan is up so I checked to see what they have to offer in the way of new phones and plans. Unfortunately they are only willing to give me $150 per phone to upgrade, while they are willing to give new customers much more. I sent them an email earlier today letting them know that I would like the same discounts that new customers receive since I basically am a new customer for whatever company is willing to give me the best deal. They offered an extra $75 (total) for me to get new phones so I just sent them back a slightly nastier email. If not for my family members that are on my plan and other relatives that are with Sprint I would just cancel my plan altogether since I already have a Verizon Blackberry for work. Sprint is also telling me that I have to go to a Sprint Store to get new phones rather than being able to order online like new customers can. I’m not really willing to travel 30 minutes to get to the nearest Sprint Store to get a new phone. I’ll be interested to see if they counter offer.<o>:p></o>:p>
I mainly just wanted to vent about Sprint being bitches to me, but I also wanted to check to see what luck anyone has had with other providers. I’ll probably end up going back with Sprint, but I just don’t understand why they would rather get new customers than keep people who have been with them for several years.<o>:p></o>:p>
Click to expand...

Actually, what you should be aiming for isn't the price of your new equipment. It's the price of the plan. Existing customers always get screwed on the price of equipment compared to new customers. You can go through a two-year cycle of continuously switching wireless providers, or you can eat the extra money and get it back (and then some) on your plan.

The key is to get Sprint to offer you a retention plan. Despite what the equipment prices imply, wireless providers do care very much about turnover, or "churn". When push comes to shove, many are prepared to cut you a deal on your monthly recurring charge in order to keep you as a customer. Every one of these companies offers "retention plans" that they do not advertise. They have them to keep good existing customers from going to the competition. You can't just call 'em up and say, "Hey, I want a retention plan". If you call them up and play your cards right though, you can get them to give you a better deal on your monthly bill. In the grand scheme of things, even though it may cost you a little more initially to upgrade your handsets, if you can do that and get on a retention plan, you'll save way more money than if you switch carriers and get extra rebates on new phones.
 
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NJ-Buckeye said:
I get a kick out of Cingulars claim that they have the least number of dropped calls than any other service... not the lowest %.. but the least number of dropped calls... if you have the smallest firm and the least number of customers, chances are pretty good you have the least number of dropped calls... haaa
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Actually, Cingular has more customers than any other carrier in the US - approx. 55 million people. So, if they have the lowest number of dropped calls, they also have the lowest percentage.

Oh - and one more thing, exhawg. I have Sprint, and I sell both Sprint and Cingular for a living - I know I'm gonna start sounding like a shill - but I'd tell you the same thing if you had Verizon or T-Mobile. If you've had it for three years, and never had a problem... FIND A WAY TO STICK WITH IT. Too many times, I've seen people leave a service that was reliable for them because they wanted the cool new phone or whatever, and they end up with something less than what they expected. If it does everything you need, when you need it, then that's really worth something.
 
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jlb1705 said:
Actually, Cingular has more customers than any other carrier in the US - approx. 55 million people. So, if they have the lowest number of dropped calls, they also have the lowest percentage.

Oh - and one more thing, exhawg. I have Sprint, and I sell both Sprint and Cingular for a living - I know I'm gonna start sounding like a shill - but I'd tell you the same thing if you had Verizon or T-Mobile. If you've had it for three years, and never had a problem... FIND A WAY TO STICK WITH IT. Too many times, I've seen people leave a service that was reliable for them because they wanted the cool new phone or whatever, and they end up with something less than what they expected. If it does everything you need, when you need it, then that's really worth something.
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So what have you seen Sprint do to keep customers? Do they give sales reps some leeway for existing customers beyond the $150? They emailed me back and said that a sales rep will call me. I already have a Verizon phone from work so if we switched plans I would probably end up giving one of the 3 phones to my dad so that we all could be IN. He has a Sprint phone through his work which is why we went with Sprint in the first place. The bad thing about going with Verizon I would probably end up paying the same as I am now, but I wouldn't even get one of the phones on the plan since my dad would need it for the mobile to mobile. That's probably why I'll stick with Sprint and just make my mom and brother get cheaper phones so the extra money they give me will go further. Then again my fiance is on Verizon so I could probably add the other phones to her plan and pay a lot less.
 
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*This info is several years old and may be out of date*

I've seen Sprint bend over backwards to keep a customer. A buddy got a few months for free, more minutes, etc. to stick with them after he threatened to leave. That covers a new phone right there...When I left Sprint they were prepared to give me all kinds of things to keep me. I had moved to a spot where Sprint service wasn't good at the time. It was actually quite amusing that the call dropped when I was explaining why I wanted to buy out of my contract and the customer service rep was basically begging me to stay...As my warning says, this was quite a few years ago, but I know they used to give some pretty good deals if they thought you were leaving for the competition...
 
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exhawg said:
I currently have Sprint and have never had a problem. My 3 phone family plan is up so I checked to see what they have to offer in the way of new phones and plans. Unfortunately they are only willing to give me $150 per phone to upgrade, while they are willing to give new customers much more. I sent them an email earlier today letting them know that I would like the same discounts that new customers receive since I basically am a new customer for whatever company is willing to give me the best deal. They offered an extra $75 (total) for me to get new phones so I just sent them back a slightly nastier email. If not for my family members that are on my plan and other relatives that are with Sprint I would just cancel my plan altogether since I already have a Verizon Blackberry for work. Sprint is also telling me that I have to go to a Sprint Store to get new phones rather than being able to order online like new customers can. I’m not really willing to travel 30 minutes to get to the nearest Sprint Store to get a new phone. I’ll be interested to see if they counter offer.<O:p></O:p>
I mainly just wanted to vent about Sprint being bitches to me, but I also wanted to check to see what luck anyone has had with other providers. I’ll probably end up going back with Sprint, but I just don’t understand why they would rather get new customers than keep people who have been with them for several years.<O:p></O:p>
Click to expand...


Interesting. You are happy with the service, but unhappy with the service. You would like to change services, yet you are staying with the same service.

Informative post.
 
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I use Sprit because my wife's family uses Sprint. They live nearby and my wife and mother-in-law seem to always be yacking to each other.

I had Verizon for a few years. In 24 months I received 19 incorrect billing statements I had to have corrected. And they were pricks about it. They screwed up but I always got the impression they were "doing me a favor" by correcting their mistakes.

Typical collapse of customer service in this country.
 
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